On this day in history:

1404 - Europe's first public bank, the Taula de canvi, opened in Barcelona

1567 – Portuguese forces drove the French out of Rio de Janeiro for good.

1649 – Charles I of England went on trial for treason and other "high crimes".

1783 – Great Britain signed preliminary articles of peace with France, setting up the end of the American Revolutionary War
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1839 – In the Battle of Yungay, Chile defeated an alliance between Peru and Bolivia and broke up that alliance.

1841 – Hong Kong Island was occupied by the British.

1887 – The US Senate allowed the Navy to lease Pearl Harbor as a naval base.

1949 – Truman announced the Point Four Program for economic aid to poor countries

1954 – The National Negro Network was established in the US with 40 charter member radio stations.

1974 – China gained control over the Paracel Islands after the Battle of the Paracel Islands between the naval forces of China and South Vietnam

1981 – Twenty minutes after the inauguration of Ronald Reagan Iran released 52 American hostages whose prior release had been held up by Iran at the request of the GOP to create a political campaign talking point.

1986 – Martin Luther King, Jr. Day was celebrated as a US federal holiday for the first time.

Some people who were born on this day:

In natural science the principles of truth ought to be confirmed by observation.

~~ Carl Linnaeus the Younger

1029 – Alp Arslan, sultan
1526 – Rafael Bombelli, mathematician
1573 – Simon Marius, astronomer and academic who made the first observations of the Galilean moons of Jupiter
1716 – Jean-Jacques Barthélemy, archaeologist and numismatist, first to decipher palmyrene and phoenician
1741 – Carl Linnaeus the Younger, botanist and author
1775 – André-Marie Ampère, physicist and mathematician
1856 – Harriot Stanton Blatch, suffragist and organizer
1879 – Ruth St. Denis, modern dance pioneer

1883 – Enoch L. Johnson, New Jersey businessman
1883 – Forrest Wilson, journalist and author
1888 – Lead Belly, legendary singer, songwriter, guitarist, prone to social commentary
1895 – Gábor Szegő, mathematician
1910 – Joy Adamson, painter and author
1918 – Juan García Esquivel, pianist, composer, and bandleader
1920 – Federico Fellini, director and screenwriter
1922 – Ray Anthony, trumpet player, composer, bandleader, and actor
1923 – Slim Whitman, country and western singer, songwriter and musician
1926 – David Tudor, pianist and composer (think Nash)
1931 – David Lee, physicist and academic
1931 – Hachidai Nakamura, pianist and composer (think Sukiyaki)
1952 – Paul Stanley, singer,songwriter, guitarist, and producer
1957 – Andy Sheppard, saxophonist and composer
1960 – Scott Thunes, bass player
1979 – Rob Bourdon, musician and songwriter

Some people who died on this day:

What we think or what we know or what we believe is in the end of little consequence. The only thing of consequence is what we do

~~ John Ruskin

Actual and aspiring politicians take note of the above and make it your action principle; what you do is what you are - what you claim to believe or think you believe is irrelevant, Talk Is Cheap!

1900 – John Ruskin, painter and critic
1921 – Mary Watson Whitney,astronomer and academic
1947 – Andrew Volstead, can you say "Volstead Act"?
1962 – Robinson Jeffers, poet and philosopher
1965 – Alan Freed, DJ, not like "DJ badass whoop-de-do", but a real Disc Jockey
1996 – Gerry Mulligan, saxophonist and composer who was part of the birth of cool
2012 – Etta James, singer and songwriter
2012 – John Levy, bassist and manager
2022 – Meat Loaf, singer and actor

Some Holidays, Holy Days, Festivals, Feast Days, Days of Recognition, and such:

Martin Luther King Jr. Day
Leadbelly's Birthday (Unofficial)

Today's Tunes

Lead Belly

John Hardy

Easy Rider

Midnight Special

The Bourgeois Blues

Juan Garcia Esquivel

Ray Anthony

Andy Sheppard

Scott Thunes (want some bass with that nail job?)

Gerry Mulligan

Etta James

Stormy Weather

At Last

John Levy

Heh - I had hoped to bookend Leadbelly and Etta, but just can't skip Levy. Ah well, here's Meatloaf too

I won't be here when this posts

Ok, it's an open thread, so it's up to you folks now. So what's on your mind?

Cross posted from http://caucus99percent.com

Open Thread, Martin Luther King Jr Day, Leabelly, Etta James, Meatloaf